Score

This evening my grandpa called me and asked if my husband wanted this tool box he didn't want anymore. (one of those big ones on wheels, with all the drawers..probably 4 1/2 feet tall, if you know what I am talked about?)
Well he did want and he went over to their house to pick it up. I had a show I wanted to watch so I didn't go with him, but he came home with some goodies my grandma gave him to give to me. However, the first thing she gave me I need help with....what is it and what do I cook/bake in it?

It is some type of earth ware...I have one of those pizza stones and it is just like that, but I don't know what you are suppose to bake in it? Has anyone seen this before?
This is what it looks like with the lid on.

And of course with the lid off.

(Sorry about the nose in the picture....someone can't seem to get out of the frame hahaha)

I am a scrapbooker and this is one of those industrial paper cutters.

She also gave me a box full of pin jewelry!!!

On a side note: Something has gotten into some of my potted plants. What animal will climb into a potted planed and dig....do you see the dirt all over the porch?

This is Pathetic

Why is it that I take my dog for a walk and after 20 mins. he is dragging his feet, barely can put one paw in front of the other, patting like crazy, and hanging his head. I then have to drop him off at home in the kitchen because he looks so pitiful he immediately lays his belly down on an a/c vent with a big 'huff'. I then go back out and exercise for another 45 mins alone. When I come back, he is still on the a/c vent with all 4 legs sprawled out in 4 directions so that his belly is closer to the vent and is so tired that when I walk in the door he 1/2 opens only one eye and then closes it. Then, has been napping ever since.

You are a 2 year old in shape dog.
I am a 28 year old out of shape human.

I have since cleaned some of the house, cooked dinner, and cleaned up after wards. Also, went to the store and he is still napping. Oh, he got up to eat of course.


Can we say spoiled?????

I wuv him!!!!!

Skip-Bo

Anybody ever heard of the card game "Skip-bo"? My husband and I have probably played it 100 times this past week! Not sure why we pulled it out, but we have played it several times a day for the last week.

Last night we rented Taking Woodstock and Hot Tub Time Machine. Both were ok...glad I waited for the DVD though.

Today was a very lazy day, we went out for lunch, went grocery shopping, made jello poke cake, and played skip-bo. Talk to you tomorrow....good night!

Life is Good Award

I received the Life is Good Award today. The only thing I have to do is pass it on:

1. Julianne-"From the Beginning"
2. Katie-"Harrington House"
3. Rachel "A Little Pink in a World of Camo"
4. "A Blue Eyes Boy Meets a Brown Eyed Girl"
5. "Sweet Melissa"

"Because I Am an Elbert and That's What We Do"

I grew up hearing my grandma talk about cinnamon rolls. I really cannot tell you how many times she talked about cinnamon rolls or brought them up in conversation. Millions and millions of times....I probably have enough pictures to fill a box of me baking cinnamon rolls with her at the farm. When she was a little girl her mother (my great grandma of course) made cinnamon rolls every Saturday. Her sisters and her continued to make cinnamon rolls together every Saturday and after she had kids she would make them with my mother and her sisters. They then would gather after church the next day and eat the C.R. So big tradition. I even had to help some of my mom's cousins and my great aunts find cinnamon roll related scrapbooking embellishments to make a photo album of my great grandma. One of my greatest memories is being on the farm and my grandma made a batch and I made a batch and my grandpa, brothers, and one of my uncles came in from milking and they all took a roll from my pan and zero from my grandma's. My grandma put her hands on her hips and said, "Missy they all liked your rolls better than mine!!?!???!!!" and then she laughed. I actually felt really good.

With that being said, I do have my great grandma's recipe, but (dare I say) it does not make my favorite cinnamon rolls. They are a little to 'bready'. So all of my adult life I have been on the look out for the 'best cinnamon roll recipe' there is. I want to be known as making the best cinnamon rolls ever. (just like Monica on friends wants to be known as the mom who makes the best chocolate chip cookies) (Actually I would also like to be known as making the best c.c cookies and thanks to Alton Brown and using cake flour instead of all purpose flour and butter/shortening combo...I might be close)
Everytime I find a different recipe I try it. If you know anything about making them, they are not quick, they take all day between scalding the milk, letting it cool to 105 degrees, letting it rise, roll it out, make filling, roll, cut, let rise again, and baking.....it is a lot of work. Half way through I wish I never started because I am over it.

Well, today I am happy to say....I think I finally did it! I now have the perfect cinnamon roll recipe!

My husband came home from work near the tail end of the process and I was telling him how this recipe was different and how long it took and that I have been at it since noon and yadda yadda yadda and he said, "why do you kill yourself to make cinnamon rolls?" and I looked at him and said, "Because I am an Elbert and that's what we do!"


So, what is the one tradition in your family that you will always do?

New Door

We got a new door

Before

After

Do you like?

I Love Fair Time

On Friday night we went to the fair mainly to see the demolition derby, but also to eat and walk around. My hubby and I met my brother and his friend at the arena. I love watching the demo derby, but I hate how muddy you get. They sling mud very very far. I had a lovely dinner of philly cheese steak and mozzarella sticks and homemade ice cream for dessert. We also got one of those old fashion pictures taken (you know the kind where they put an outfit on you that is slit up the back and then you pose and don't smile) We had 4 choices to choose from: wild west, victorian, civil war, or the roaring 20's. I picked the roaring twenties. I wore a velvet blue flapper's dress with 7 strains of long pearls and a feather head piece. My husband wore a pin striped suit where the jacket goes all the way to the knee, a hat with a white band, and a gangster gun. The picture is hilarious! What is your favorite part of the fair?

Have you heard about this giveaway?

I would love to win this giveaway....I love to cook!

Stange Pregnancy

I watch a show tonight called "Strange Pregnancy" on Discover Healty....It was so weird. If you didn't watch it here is a summary.

There was basically 3 stories:

1. A lady had a baby develop outside of her womb, just floating around in her abdominal cavity. She had a womb, the baby just decided it did not want to grow inside her womb.

2. A 55 year old grandma carried a pregnancy for her daughter and she ended up having triplets. The daughter could not conceive since she had a hysterectomy (she had two children from a previous marriage who were now teens I believe) but she and her new husband wanted a baby, so the grandma carried her egg and hubbies sperm.

3. The third story was about a girl who had 2 uteruses (uteri ?) and she became pregnant in both at the same time. She released 2 eggs, one in each uterus, and both became babies.

Closet Cleaning

Just cleaned out a closet and found something I have been looking for for 2 years.

I feel like Cinderella

Sorry to blog about my dog again, people won't read a blog about my dog, but this is too funny to pass up.

My husband and I had some things to burn today (cardboard, scrap wood, etc). When we started doing this I stood by the fire and my husband was over by the pile of 'stuff' to burn, about 60-70 ft. or so away from the fire. He called my dog and gave him a piece of cardboard in his mouth and then I called him and he ran to me and I threw it in the fire and then my husband called him and he ran back, etc. My doggie did this until the pile was complete and everything was burnt. I didn't have to move and neither did my husband. My dog seriously helped us work and did all the labor part of the work. He carried all the cardboard and wood! My husband just stood there and handed him stuff and I stood by the floor and my dog dropped it at my feet and I threw it on the fire.

Then,

You know that when you burn cardboard tiny pieces will sometimes float up and carry on the wind and then land somewhere else.....when we were done I came inside and several minutes later I looked out the window and there was like 10 birds in my backyard grabbing all the fly away pieces in the grass and carrying them off....haha they cleaned up after us.....I felt like Cinderella with all the animals working for me.

I want to win this!

I would love to win this giveaway. $50 gift certificate to the Vintage Pearl.

What is a good compliment to you?

What is the best compliment you could receive?

Is it:
Your the best cook?
You are beautiful?
Your hair/eyes/legs/etc are so pretty?
Your child is so well behaved?
Your child is so smart?
Your lawn is gorgeous?
Your a great dresser?
etc
etc
etc

The reason I ask this is because today I got the same compliment for the third time and all times times it has made me the happiest to hear.

This post might sound like I am bragging, but it is my blog and I will brag if I want to apparently. hehehe :)

3 times this happened

I gave someone a tour of my house today and they said
"Your house looks like it could be in Better Homes and Garden Magazine"

3 times this has happened with 3 different people who don't know each other and this compliment makes me feel good.

I would rather someone say I have a beautiful house than say I am pretty. Because my house is something I put blood, sweat, and tears into.

Probably my second favorite compliment is when someone says I am a good cook or baker.

What is yours?

Update from previous post

Well at 11pm he finally got his appetite back and ate his dinner. He usually eats everyday at 4pm, but as I stated in my previous post he didn't want his dinner. He had diarrhea one more time (at 10:50) and he came right inside and went straight to his bowl and ate all his food. He must be feeling better. I really hope I do not get up tomorrow to diarrhea in his crate.

Also, at about 9:30pm my brother called me to tell me his dog has diarrhea with blood in it. What is it with dogs today????? No more sick pups please. He said his dog had lots of blood in his diarrhea stool. I really hope he is ok. My brother said his dog is acting fine and chewing on his kong ball and wagging his tail and acting normal.

Sorry to use the word diarrhea so many times.

Calling All Dog Lovers

My dog is sick, but here are his only two symptoms:
1. really bad runs 3 times today-the type of runs that when he thinks he is done he starts walking away and it is still dripping (however no accidents in the house, he is able to wait until I let him out to do)
2. loss of appetite-my dog has a very healthy appetite. I can't get the food in the bowl fast enough and he always finishes it

However,
*His attitude and behavior is normal
*Someone told me to make him rice and he ate that right up, licked the bowl clean, but he won't eat his dog food
*heart rate is normal
*belly is not hard
*white of his eyes look fine
*still drinks water
*has peed plenty today
*doesn't whine or anything

He is up to date on all his shots and he takes heartguard once a month.


Any feedback-did he just eat something that didn't agree with him?

July 4 th Weekend

Just wanted to stop by and give the briefest weekend recap I can:

Friday-My brother stopped by because I wanted a few pics of my husband and myself around the time of our 3rd anniversary (it was Wednesday, but Friday is close enough to how we looked on our anniversary hehehe)

(A side note-On our first anniversary I got a pic of him by himself and he got a pic of me by myself ((I was too shy to ask the waiter at the restaurant)) On our second anniversary I got one really blurry pic from the the waiter in that restaurant, so this year I made my brother come over so that I had a decent pic of both of us in the picture.)

Since I did get dressed up for the picture we went out to see "Grown Ups" at the theater. My suggestion is to wait for the DVD for this movie. With so many funny actors I don't know why it was such a flop.

Saturday, while my husband worked, I went out on the lake with one of my best friends. We just floated and talked for hours. I put plenty of sunblock on my upper body, but none on my legs because they needed color, so my legs got burnt.

Sunday-I threw together an impromptu cookout at my house and then we went and watched "Red, White, and Boom" fireworks downtown.

Monday, was a blast, my grandma owns a 250 acre farm with a creek that runs through the middle of it. We took my dog there and let him swim , I also got in, and it was so much fun swimming with a lab. We then stopped by a friends house and hung out for a while.

Catch On

I wanted to talk about the shows "Intervention" and "How Do I Look" you have to of seen both of these shows to understand this post.

Why at the end of intervention are the addicts 'surprised' at being at an intervention....hello, how many seasons has is been on and at the being of every episode it says that the addicts are told they are doing a documentary about addiction. If you are an addict and someone says they want to do a documentary about addiction and then you have a 'final interview' at a different location, assume there will be an intervention.

By now don't the people on "How Do I Look" know that the mirror they are standing in front of is a two way mirror and there are people on the other side looking at you. If you watched a previous season you might know that.

Anniversary continued

These pics are in reverse order....too lazy this morning to fix and I don't have enough readers to really bother. Thought I would post more wedding pics. Tomorrow I might do some reception ones.

We had a great anniversary last night. We will probably go out to dinner this weekend, my husband worked too late to go out last night. So I made dinner at home. I set the table with a nice table cloth, centerpiece, and I used my china. I also baked him chocolate chip cookies (his favorite all time dessert)

He came home with flowers and a perfect card (it is hard to explain why, but it was perfect) He told me this little story about when he went card shopping and this is a little insight to his personality. He said, "I was going to get you a sympathy card...kinda like a 'You have been married to me for 3 years, here's my sympathy'" hahaha